May 05, 2022 | By admin
Before we begin this blog, we would like to state that this is in no way trying to deceive the reader and in no way unethically hooking the reader into following a clickbait. This blog simply talks about how to grab the interest of the reader enough so that they may start reading the story.
A hook has been used for a long time and it is basically a technique which is used to grab the attention of the readers by creating something of an exciting beginning so that the reader is compelled to at least start the book. This can be done in a variety of ways which usually centres around having an intriguing beginning or having an interesting story wherein the main character falls into an unpredictable situation or we can even start the story with a simple yet unanswerable question.
· TITLE – The title should be your first hook because this is one of the most important parts of your fiction piece. This is even more so important because this is the point of first contact between you and the reader and you can imagine this as your first appearance in an interview. This is where you must create a strong impression on your reader. You can use various techniques such as intrigue, anger, despair and any other type of emotionally activated language in your title. But you must make sure that your title isn’t too long and isn’t too complex and is also unique sounding at the same time to grab the reader’s attention.
· FIRST CHAPTER – The first chapter of your fictional work should start on a healthy note and by healthy note, we mean that it should start without giving off too much information but yet building upon the story that you want to showcase. This should then follow by a cliffhanger wherein you keep the reader suspended in intrigue at the end of chapter one. One of the best ways to take inspiration from this technique, just have a look at other art forms such as TV series where you can find out that not a whole lot of information is given out yet the viewer is made aware of the situations crudely enough so that they may know what is going on and yet a cliffhanger is used so that the viewers keep wanting what is going on.
· ORDER AND CHAOS – This is one of the oldest tricks in the trade and it is to use conflict. There should be a sense of order wherein something is going on that the viewer is made to feel comfortable with and something that releases dopamine in the minds of the reader, yet parallel to this you must start building a conflict, a chaotic situation that is designed to collide head-on with the main story. Let’s say for example that there is a happy family and there are characters that seem to be content with their life. Yet there seems to be something off with the father and he displays signs that he has had a background in the special forces by the way he walks and by the way he interacts with various situations day-to-day. This can be followed by his children suspecting that there is something off with their father and one fine day the son discovers some
old medals with the name of the recipient scratched off. This can be followed by a sudden reappearance of a man who drops by one fine day and claims he’s the friend of the father. And then the chapter ends. Scenarios like this wherein there are sudden sprinkles of chaos in the orderly story bring intrigue into the minds of the reader.
· AVOID LONG DESCRIPTIONS – Try to avoid long descriptions whenever you can because as long as you bring in long descriptions, the reader is forced to feel that they are not in the situation and can even make them feel they need assistance in order to dive deep into the story. There is also this factor wherein long descriptions make the readers remember the school days as these long descriptions are usually found at the beginning of textbooks. Do not try to define the scene or even the characters more than necessary and keep a little space for imagination so that your readers can fill in the descriptions and create a visual landscape of their own imaginations. There is this added benefit of creating a cloak of mystery around the description.
· RELATIBILITY – Try to make the characters relatable to the audience and by that we mean that you must make the characters or certain characters quite sympathetic and quite lovable so that by the end of a few chapters your readers have a favourite character. Once you tip the characters against themselves you are halfway done as this rivalry will also be felt by your readers and they will take it personally whenever their favourite character is winning or losing in a situation.
So, these were a few tips which will be able to help you create a great hook so that your readers fall in love with your work of fiction and might even start suggesting your book to others. If you are someone who has excellent ideas but does not have the time to write their own work of fiction or even any other type of book then we are the perfect option for you. We at Get Best Writers are India’s fastest growing ghostwriting agency where you can hire every kind of ghostwriter for all your content needs. You can hire fiction and nonfiction ghostwriters and screenplay writers, as well as every other kind of content and ghostwriter.
